Garment hanger



Aug. 1940. F. H. DEKNATEL 2,212,97s

GARMENT HANGER F'iled Jan. 25, 1939 Patented Aug. 27, 1940 UNITED STATES.

GARM'ENT HANGER Application J anuary 25, 1939, Serial N0. 252,821 2 Claims.- o1. 22396) 'I'hls invention relates to improvements in garment hangers of the type in which a pair of clamping members 01' jaws are hinged together and are moved. to clamping position by a lever,

as in my earlier Patent 1955792, issued April The object of the present invention is to pro- Vide an improved garment hanger of this type which is of sturdier construction and in Which the e1osing lever f01' drawing the clarnping jaws together and for releasing them, may be actuated a little more readily.

A contributory object is to provide a garment hanger in which the heavy wire hinge members are reinforced With sheet metal, one member having the clamping lever mounted thereon and the other member having a pulley mounted 0n the sheet metal reinforcement therefor.

A further object is to provide a garment hanger of the character just described, in whlch a light spring is provided tokeep the clamping jaws apart somewhat When the hanger is not in use.

Additional objects and advantages will be apparent from the description of the cornmercial embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the garrhent hanger;

Fig. 2 is a section 011 a central vertica1 plane with the jaws open;

Flg. 3 is a section on the line 3, 3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4, 4 of Fig. 2.

The jaws or clamping members, as shown, are made preferably of strips of wood III lined with felt pads II on their inner surfaces at the ends,

the middle portions being preferably made thinner so that the clamping engagemnt is effected primarily by the ends of the clamping members. Said members may, of course, be made of other material, and are connected loy a hinge formed from heavy wires or metal rods of small diameter, the 'axis of the hinge being shown at I2. There are two such rode I3 and I4, having their ends received in openings in the wooden damping: members, the rod I4 being bent around portions of the rod I3 in the form of helices, as shown at I5, permitting the parts to swivel about said. axis I2.

The middle portion of what may be called the rear rod I4 is bent down into substantially U shaped form, as shown at I6 and this portion is reinforced by a sheet metal member I.'I the sides of whlch are bent around. to grip the parallel arms of the U member. The bottom of the reinforcing metal is notched out at I8 and. the locking lever I9 is mounted at this point by bending its end around the supporting wire.

The front member of the hinge I3 is made in the form of two wires or small rods having their adjacent encls bent down parallel to each other 5 but not directly connected. They are held. in fixed; spaced relation, however, by another sheet metal reinforcing member 20, having its sldes bent around the parallel lengths of wire as shown. This reinforcement is also notched out at the 10 bottorn at 2I and supports a small transverse shaft 22 on which the pulley 23 is mountecl. 'I'his pulley, although a small one, is of substantial diameter as compared With the diameter of the locking lever I9 by which it is engaged. The 15 sheet metal reinforcement forms a sturdy mounting for the pulley and resists bending of the wire during the clamping action and the rear reinforcement has a generally similar function. The end of the locking lever is formed as a hook as 20 in the earlier patent so that the device may be suspended from above When the jaws are clamped together.

When said jaws are unolamped they tend to spread apart a little due to the provision of a 25 helical spring 24, the ends of which tend. to press the jaw members in opposite directions, as Will be apparent.

The clamping lever ricles freely over the pulley as said. lever is being swung to clamping position, 30 providing an efi'ective leverage and making it very easy to clarnp the jaws together, even though, before clamping, they are held apart at a sonsiderable angle. The pulley also reduces Wear, prolonglng thelife of the device. The lever, lt 5 will be noted, is bent in such a way as to form a hook at the bottom, the curvature being such that said lever, after lt has ridden over the roller almost t o its final position, passes the dead center so as to resist the action of the spring in tend- 40 ing to press the jaws apart. In other words, the lower end of 'said lever serves to lock the parts together.

In referring to certain parts as in horizontal position, such terms are used merely in a relative 45 sense and as a convenient means of description, as the operation is, of course, independent of the posltion of the parts, although the device usually hangs from a support above it, over which lt is hooked. 50

I claim:

1. A garment hanger comprising two clamping members, hinged arms secured thereto, one of said armS being made of two lengths of rod having adjacent ends, a metal member to which each of 55 said ends is secured, and a, roller mounted on said member, the other of said arms being made of a rod also and having a metal part embracing an intermediate portion of said rod, and a locking device hinged to said other rod adjacent said metal part and arranged t0 engage seid roller and draw said clamping members toward each other.

2. A garment hanger comprising two clamping members, hinged arme; secured. ohereto, one of said arms being made of two lengths of rod having adjacent ends, a metal member to which each gether.

FREDERICK H. DEKNATEL. 

